Christmas This Year
by 122 Generation
Summary: It's near Christmas and Mars has some motive to celebrate... yet she doesn't want to leave her warm home to venture a snow-covered Sinnoh; until Kellyn and Kate drag her out to do so. In her one-day holiday journey, Mars will repair ties with old enemies and even lead to a tearful reunion with two people she hadn't seen for years... Merry Christmas! Spinoff from Catharsis.
1. Winter: Unexpected Visitors

**Now for anyone concerned about what's going on, this is an event that takes place one year after my story 'Catharsis'. Officially, I actually did write this over a year after writing 'Catharsis' (in 2012!). So if you'd like to know how Mars actually got to this point, I encourage you to read the last two chapters of 'Catharsis' at least.**

* * *

**November 26**

**Christmas This Year**

**Floaroma Town: one year later**

The snow had blanketed the fields of Floaroma Town, not to mention the flowers. Nevertheless, the flowers did not fall apart but stayed frozen like delicate berries in a wide garden. Houses were covered in snow and fireplaces were all active, where families stayed warm and cozy at home. Everything was well, and even the children were playing leisurely around in the snow with their Pokémon friends.

The Pokémon Trainer Mars was also at her home, starting to decorate her house. It had been barely over a year since she had been granted and given freedom by the International Police. Within that time, she had experienced numerous journeys, one including an act of inception, but that was a different story…

Dressed in her iconic red sweater, a sleeveless black dress, and black pants, she opted to purchase some new clothes at Jubilife City, one which included a white dress and trimmed with red again, a housecoat, but also bought a shell jacket; it was her clothing of choice when it came to the winter. Indeed, her hairstyle was just the same as ever for the past years, and she was happy that all of Sinnoh seemed to accept her at last. A few times; she had to get a haircut since her hair would grow longer eventually.

_Brr… it's cold this morning!_ Mars thought, looking around her two-storey house. In the past year it had already been partly furnished, but it still needed some room for improvement. Using her money earned from selling berries, she bought a wardrobe, flat-screen television, a low high-end couch, coffee table, and even resources to develop a fireplace! It was installed in the past month.

So Mars went downstairs dressed in her robe to turn on her fireplace. For her own comfort, she wasn't alone; Purugly, Bronzor, and Kangaskan wandered around the house too and not to mention the Marill Kellyn had captured for her the year before.

"It's so cold today!" Mars exclaimed. "To think –"

But Mars was interrupted by the sudden nudging of her Marill who, after Mars gave some afterthought, made her follow the little Pokémon to the door. Although Marill was small, the Pokémon blasted a small Bubble attack on the doorknob. The door swung open where Mars saw a _lot_ of snow falling down in the community.

"That's very nice, Marill, but it's really cold!" Mars said, closing the door.

She walked over to the sofa, picked up a blanket on the way and tossed it on the seats. Mars planned to comfortably wrap up in blankets, but not before she would turn on the fireplace.

Only a minute later, the fireplace on the side wall was up and running and the entire house was filled with a tremendous sense of warmth. Purugly simply crawled near the fire and rested in front of it. On the other hand, Mars went to the kitchen to prepare a quick drink of hot chocolate, and eventually brought her laptop and her drink to the low sofa, placing her contents on the table in front and wrapped herself up in blankets.

"Mm…" Mars hummed, sipping the hot drink. It was sweet, as it always was, and was made from very hot Moo-moo milk mixed with cocoa powder. To her, it was possibly one of the best drinks she ever came across.

When she was about to fade into sleep again, Mars distracted herself by turning on her laptop. She began to work on it and happily typed out some business documents she was working on – which really were for her berry marketing career – while listening at the sound of the fire.

Knock. Knock.

_Hmph! Now I have to get up…_ Mars thought grudgingly. Still dressed in her favourite clothes, she got up to walk to the door. When she did open it, an astonishingly cold gust blew into her house. Mars couldn't take it.

"Hurry up! Come in!" she demanded, not bothering to look at her visitor. "It's so cold outside!"

The visitor walked right into her house, and Mars slammed the door shut.

"Mars… I'm not the only one who came in you know…" the visitor said.

Mars actually took her time to look at who came in. It was… Kellyn, the Pokémon Ranger, and his Pachirisu resting right on his shoulder. When she realised that, Mars blushed out of embarrassment.

"Oh! Sorry Kellyn! But that would mean…" Mars' eyes widened: she knew who would be waiting right outside in the cold. Reaching for the door, she opened it and as expected, saw –

"Kate! I'm sorry!" Mars quickly said, and whilst messing with her hair, and furthermore blushed red from major embarrassment. "Sorry Pachirisu! Sorry Grotle! Excuse me for being heartless!"

Indeed, Kellyn's co-worker and Partner Pokémon were just as unhappy as they were cold. Kate, her Pachirisu, Kellyn's Grotle and Kirlia walked right in. Mars beamed at her guests and dashed to grab some towels to dry them off. Right after, she gave one hug each to Kellyn and Kate.

"It's been too long, Kellyn!" Mars grinned. "It's been like a year since we met! What brings you here to Floaroma Town, anyway?"

"It's been more like over a year, I haven't seen you since we went with on that 'mission' with Wes," Kellyn politely corrected her. "You know… seeing that I haven't seen you for so long, Kate and I agreed to pay you a visit for Christmas! Besides, Kate was quite keen to meet you face-to-face."

Mars gestured for the Rangers to sit on the low sofa while the Pokémon made themselves comfortable looking for a nice place to rest. Incidentally, the favourite spot to rest was beside the fire.

"Shall I get you some drinks?" Mars offered.

"I'd like some hot water, please," Kellyn said to her.

"I'd like a cup of hot chocolate, Mars," Kate said right after.

"Oh, of course!" Mars nodded, face full of optimism. Immediately she thought of looking for another container of Moo-moo milk.

While she went to the kitchen, Kate turned her face to Kellyn's. "Don't you think it'd be nicer to do something for her? It looked like we couldn't get in to her house. There's so much snow!"

Kellyn looked up and then got up. "You have a point there, Kate. Here, I'll go and help sweep and clear the snow."

Before Kate could try to say a word, Kellyn had already gone outside, dragging Grotle with him.

* * *

"Here's your drink, Kate," Mars said, putting a cup of hot chocolate on the low table and also a plate of cookies. "I just opened these cookies. Try some!"

"Aw, Mars, you didn't have to," Kate protested, picking up her cup and taking small sips.

The two of them ended up chatting for a while. Kate noticed that Mars was more than happy to talk with someone. Of course, Mars did seem alone at her house.

"By the way, where'd Kellyn go?" Mars asked, halfway eating a cookie.

"He went outside to help sweep the snow off your doorstep," Kate replied, also eating a cookie. "I wanted to ask if I could help him, but Kellyn just came and went. He even brought Grotle to help him! Then again, he's keen to help people, like me!"

Mars laughed. "So how have you and Kellyn been helping people?"

"Oh, you know… Ranger's work," Kate replied. "We recently did a ridiculous Quest to help a tropical country prepare for a winter and Christmas festival. You know what we did? We had to bring snow there!"

Mars stared at her, and then giggled. "How did you do that? It's not like you could ship amounts of snow from Snowpoint City by ship; the snow would melt!"

"We had to capture a wild Froslass and Walrein on our own!" Kate said.

"What?!" Mars' jaw dropped. "Wild… how did – that must have been a pain! You two must have spent at least a day to look for them. You know, Froslass are naturally rare to find around these parts."

"Literally, Mars," Kate simply said. "It took twelve hours from dawn to dusk. We spent like a few days trying to recover from exhaustion."

And then Mars burst into fits of giggles, and Kate did exactly the same. In fact, it took the better of one minute to settle down, and drinking hot chocolate did not help stop it. Around the same time, Kellyn and Grotle walked in, welcoming the warmth of the house.

"The deed is done," Kellyn said in a light tone. "I was freezing out there!"

He finally sat down on the sofa and drank a mouthful of water, simultaneously taking a cookie.

"So Kellyn… what really brings you to Floaroma?"

He took his time to swallow, and then put his cup down. "I thought that after a year, and that I haven't seen you for so long, I would drop by to celebrate Christmas with you. Kate wanted to meet you in person, so… she came along. It looks like she finally did."

Kate looked at him. "You were right, Kellyn. She really is a great person. While you were out clearing the snow, Mars and I had a nice chat."

"About what?" Kellyn leaned in.

"It's a girl thing," Mars rushed to say, and before long Kellyn got suspicious. "Anyway, what do you think of the idea going to Veilstone for a bit?"

Kate dignified this with a grin. "Yeah! We could do with some shopping!"

* * *

**Officially, I've actually completed this story and it was a one-shot. But the story, a free time one month project of mine, is so long I just had to break it down into smaller bits...**


	2. Christmas Shopping! (with old enemies)

**Veilstone City**

If there was anything Kellyn didn't enjoy, it was following someone to go shopping. For clothes. Although that one time he helped out Mars pick some new clothes the year before was a different story because he had a good reason to do so.

The clothing department was promoting sales for the Christmas occasion. Fortunately for the girls, Kellyn was very patient. Even better was the fact that Kellyn went to check out new electronic parts in another floor of the building. Like the clothes, there were some sales going on.

"Hmm… lots of good graphics cards on sale," Kellyn said, and added another thought. _And I could do with an increased performance part for my Vatonage Styler._

_I wonder what should I get?_

As he continued to look at the electronics; Kirlia, who read Kellyn's mind, slapped her hands hard on Kellyn's hip.

"Ouch! What is it, Kirlia?" Kellyn looked at his Partner Pokémon.

She looked rather cross, and Kellyn concluded that Kirlia had just read his thoughts. Being a Pokémon Ranger, Kellyn had little trouble deciphering what Kirlia was getting at.

"So you're saying I shouldn't get things for myself yet?" he concluded. "Alright, I guess it would be better to give than to receive, right? I'll look for things for Little Sis, and mom, and Kate, and Mars… wow. That's a lot of things to buy."

Pachirisu scampered around the store to look for the appropriate electronic gift. Meanwhile, Kellyn was contemplating over buying a graphics card and an extremely powerful micro-processor. If he added it to his Styler… the data transfer would be even faster.

Grotle, however, together with Pachirisu persuaded Kellyn to buy some sets of Christmas lights. Eventually he picked up the set and also picked up some portable mini book lights. Speaking of books… he went over to the adjacent room and selected a few dessert cookbooks (he found it strange; to find food-related objects beside an electronic store). In addition, Kellyn pondered to buy a box of neatly designed chocolates. In the end, he added it to his inventory.

After looking at a lot more electronics on sale, Kellyn decided to make his final purchases, and he chose to buy the graphics card over the micro-processor.

_I wonder who to give the lights to…? Why did Pachirisu and Grotle…?_

And then it hit him: he had to give it to –

* * *

"I'm more in the mood to buy coats today, not jackets," Kate said. "Here Mars, why don't you try out this kind of coat?"

Kate passed a black cashmere coat (with the coat hanger) to Mars. "I think it'll look really nice."

With some persuasion by Pachirisu, Mars did take the coat and tried it on; looking at a mirror in the process. She _could_ add it to her wardrobe…

"Here's the deal, I'll buy it for you as a gift," Kate declared. She could tell by the look on Mars' face that she would want to keep it. Without another word, Kate snatched the coat from Mars just as she was taking it off and ran over to the cashier.

Mars stared in shock: Kate's decision and actions lasted in just under two minutes…

"Here's your coat, Mars," Kate presented it to her. "Merry Christmas."

She didn't feel like she _wanted_ the coat, but then again it was a gift from a friend. Mars accepted the coat gratefully, and Kate looked just as happy. The first thing Mars did with the coat was wear it.

_Oops, I almost forgot to remove the price tag,_ Mars suddenly remembered, and then she had a two-second flashback from the year before. It was old times, and possibly some of the best, when she had come to the same store with Kellyn shopping for brand new clothes.

"_You better get rid of those," Kellyn warned, seeing that she was about to run out of the store with the price tags still on. "Unless you're to be a thief of course. I was joking… joking!" he quickly corrected himself, seeing the look on her face._

"O-kay," Mars asked an employee to detach the price tag from her coat as she flashed the receipt at her. Afterwards, they walked to the electronics section where Kellyn was supposedly was.

* * *

**Veilstone City**

"…and these are for you," Kellyn tossed a heavy package to her arms. "Oh, and that's a nice coat, by the way! Did you buy it just now?"

"You got it!" Mars replied, content. "I really didn't _need_ it, but Kate insisted that she gift it to me anyway. Speaking of gifts, are you giving some to me as well?"

The three were standing right outside the department's front doors. The plan was that they would go shopping for some food for dinner. Although Mars had to admit that she was enjoying the trip back to Veilstone, and that she was even surprised to see that Galactic Energy Limited was also celebrating the season, she personally liked it better to stay at Floaroma and rest…

"What _exactly_ did you buy?" Mars asked.

Kellyn shrugged. "You'll find out when you get home. If you peek… that'll ruin the point."

"What point?" Mars and Kate said simultaneously.

Instead, Kellyn smiled and didn't say much. "You'll know when we get home."

In an instant, and as if they just realised it, the snow started to fall again on the Sinnoh region once more. Kellyn made a quick check on his Vatonage Styler for some quick news updates.

"Let's see… Snowpoint City is taking a crazy amount of snowfall," Kellyn reported. "Snow has been rising one metre in height per hour!"

"It's that bad, huh?" Mars remarked, with her eyebrows raised. "I'm so glad Veilstone is near the seaside… but there's still some snowfall here anyway."

Flakes of snow gently fell on their heads. They decided not to use a flying Pokémon to get back to Floaroma, seeing that there would be a lot of stress holding Pokémon, humans, and shopping goods combined. Nevertheless, it was getting a little dark.

* * *

**Route 215**

The main problem was that they would have to get back to Floaroma while the day was turning into dusk. Of course the north route bypassing Celestic Town and Eterna City was closer to Floaroma Town, but it also involved hiking the treacherous and foggy cliffs of Route 210, so they would have to use Route 209, and use the cycling path just outside Oreburgh City to get back to Floaroma.

"I suppose using a Doduo's agility wouldn't hurt…" Kate suggested, walking over to a few Doduo, aiming her Vatonage Styler, and captured them in the instant. "We can use the fourth one to carry our shopping stuff."

"Wait!" Mars piped. "What about Grotle? He can't ride on a Doduo, right?"

Kellyn and Kate looked at each other, smiling.

"A Staraptor should be able to get the job done," Kellyn said, in short. "If we do come across one in this weather, I'll capture it and Grotle will be flying to your doorstep in a few minutes. I just hope it'll be quick; we're all freezing."

* * *

**Hearthome City Centre**

No sooner was Grotle flying all the way back to Floaroma Town when the party started their journey back down Route 209. Fortunately, the Doduos' agility was precise enough to get the journey to Hearthome City done in ten minutes. While the Pachirisus were able to get a nice ride on the Rangers' shoulders, and Mars' Pokémon were still soundly resting at home, Kirlia would have to teleport constantly to catch up with the group.

However, it was only when Mars started to feel sorry for Kirlia did Kellyn come to his senses. He stopped halfway through Route 209, and allowed Kirlia to get a ride with him.

Upon approaching Hearthome City, the group slowed down significantly to gaze at what the city had been doing in preparation for Christmas: lights were hanging off trees and lampposts; the Contest Hall (where Mars' entertainment of choice was) had larger-than-life iconic Contest ribbons in Christmas colours of red, green, and white attached near the roof so the public could see.

_Wow… they did a lot of work to do this!_ Mars thought. _I guess I could do the same sometime!_

If it wasn't enough, the local Gym Leader Fantina had decorated her gym with outstanding spotlights, making the gym essentially the brightest building in the city (even from a distance). The idea that gentle snowflakes fell delicately in the city added to the stunning effect.

"You've got to admit, they're impressive!" Kate remarked. "I wonder if Eterna might have done the same, if you know what I mean."

Kellyn was about to reply when Mars excited said, "Oh wait! Oh wait! There's a contest shop over there! I want to see if I can get a nice scarf there!"

Without anything else to say, Mars dismounted from her Doduo (leaving it in Kate's hands) and went to look at the styles of scarfs on sale. Kellyn glanced at Kate, who grinned, and turned his head back to the happy Mars (who, in short, admired the simplicity of the scarfs, even if they had no pattern at all).

* * *

"Excuse me," a voice said beside Mars. "How much is this scarf?"

"One hundred Pokedollars. Buy two and get the third for half the price."

Mars raised her head. She knew where that voice came from, and the last time she heard it was over a year ago, and they were hostile enemies at the time. No doubt about it, it was Dawn Platinum.

She risked a quick glance at the girl beside her. No! It wasn't just Dawn (dressed in a red coat and white scarf), but Lucas Diamond was there as well, dressed in a red beret and blue jacket (in short, they were all dressed up for the season). What a coincidence…

"I'll take this one… and Lucas, which one would you like?" Dawn asked her friend.

"Whatever's fine with you," Lucas replied. "I'll be happy to try it out."

It didn't take long for Dawn to make her choices, and then she picked out a scarf. "Here Lucas, you try this one, and I'll try this one."

Mars secretly eyed the couple as Dawn put a scarf around Lucas' neck and then put one around her own neck. Looking at a mirror and contemplating, Dawn finally said, "Okay, I'll take these two."

"Two hundred Pokedollars," the shopkeeper said.

"I'll pay for it."

Dawn and Lucas stared at who said that.

_But – but it __**can't**__ be!_ Lucas thought, watching Mars, the very same Team Galactic's Mars whom he and Dawn had battled with at Stark Mountain, handing over payment of three hundred to the shopkeeper as she wrapped a scarf of her own around her neck. She gratefully accepted the change of fifty Pokedollars with a "Thank you."

"It's my gift to you," Mars said.

"Can we have a word with you?" Lucas said to Mars.

"Oh, sure," Mars replied, wrapping a red-and-white scarf around her neck. Turning to look at Kellyn and Kate, she mouthed "_Give me a minute._"

Kellyn and Kate raised puzzling looks, but not ones that looked as if they were suspicious. Instead they shrugged and engaged in a conversation. Mars on the other hand followed Dawn and Lucas somewhere else.

* * *

Near the scarf shop was a simple cafe. Lucas, surprised, calmly approached Mars as she bought a coffee for herself. To Lucas' further astonishment, Mars ended up buying two more drinks.

"Here's a hot chocolate for each of you, I'm having coffee," Mars said, passing the two cups to them before bringing her own hot drink up to her mouth.

Dawn and Lucas were speechless when Mars just _casually gave_ them the drinks. The most preposterous part was that she was even out in public! Was this even –

"Hold it," Lucas said suspiciously. "Who are you, and what have you done with Mars?"

"What?" Mars replied. "I _am_ Mars! Lucas, Dawn… it's been over a year since I've seen you!"

Dawn pinched herself, and Lucas stared. This _could not be Mars…_

"You're not dreaming…!" Mars sang. "Let's just say that things have changed a lot since Stark Mountain. You would not believe what I've been through, and while I'm at it, drink while they're still hot. This _is_ the winter, you know…"

Lucas was just drinking his hot chocolate as Dawn said, "Well this should be interesting, and how do we even know you're not a criminal? You're out in public… you're not wearing your Galactic uniform… and you actually have a lot of money even though HSBC should have locked your account!"

Mars showed them her Trainer and ID card as proof of innocence. If Lucas and Dawn couldn't get any more surprised they did. To Mars' amusement, Dawn pinched herself again and Lucas banged his head on the table.

"Hey, guys, control yourselves!" Mars laughed. "This is hilarious! Stop!"

But this didn't stop because the fact that they saw Mars giving a casual and happy laugh made Dawn and Lucas continue their actions even harder. So instead, Mars chose to give them a moment to settle down. While she was at it, she decided to show them her Gym Badges later.

Finally, Dawn and Lucas settled down.

"So… Mars," Lucas spoke up. "How'd exactly did you end up like this since Stark Mountain? The last time we met, you were a completely different person! You're not even the same violent person we remember…!"

"Lucas," Dawn cut in. "She wasn't that violent of a person from what I remember."

Mars drank her coffee and then set it down. "Well… I could tell you. It was a painful time for me, no doubt, and it only happened two weeks after Stark Mountain. I had a run-on with the International Police in the process."

"So what happened?" Dawn asked, forgetting about being surprised.

"It all started on Route 213. And the elite Pokémon Ranger Kellyn just so happened to run into me when I didn't know what to do…"

There, Mars began to tell her story of how she changed from an ex-Commander for Team Galactic all the way to being a Pokémon Trainer.

* * *

Kellyn and Kate started to get a little worried about Mars, and that she just 'disappeared'. Still, Kellyn trusted Mars that she could easily take care of herself.

"She's been gone for a while though," Kate checked her watch. "Do you think we should go and see how she's doing?"

"I'll give her ten more minutes," Kellyn replied. "We might be able to get back to Floaroma soon before twilight."

* * *

"…and that's what happened: the people of the Floaroma community were happy to for me to be a part of their neighbourhood. I never felt so happy," Mars finished.

There was a long moment of silence before Dawn smiled. "You know what Mars? You might be just as great as a person like Kellyn. He's right: you really are a great person, and you even made a living at Floaroma Town! No wonder we never heard about your capture!"

Mars grinned. "Thank you, Dawn."

"Speaking of making a living," Lucas said. "What have you been doing as a Pokémon Trainer?"

Mars passed her badges case for them to show her progress. Dawn opened the case and then showed them to Lucas, who grinned.

"I'm not surprised that you've gotten all the badges already except for the one at Snowpoint," Lucas complimented. "After all, this isn't really the season to do so."

"I know, I've seen the news report," Mars said. "Still, like I said, I'm running a berry farm. I sell the berries to the store quite often to make money. Anyway, now can I ask you something?"

Dawn and Lucas finished their drinks and nodded for Mars to speak.

"How have your lives been?"

Now it was Mars' turn to be surprised when Dawn laughed. "Well… Lucas and I have been 'dating' ever since he brought up the subject of you. You remember the days back at Jubilife City? You called us a 'lovey-dovey couple'. Lucas asked me out for dinner a month after Stark Mountain."

"Basically," Lucas said. "You're to blame; it's your fault that I asked Dawn for a date."

Mars blushed in spite of the falling snow, and then checked her Pokétch watch. "Whoa! It's late! I better get going."

She got up and helped throw Lucas' and Dawn's cups into the trash before throwing her own. Lucas and Dawn were nonetheless impressed by Mars' good manners.

"I think I could get used to the different you," Lucas said.

"A different Mars… that anyone could be easily friends with," Dawn added. "Compared with all the other Galactic Commanders we battled with: you seemed to be the only one who was reluctant about it."

Mars, before beginning to walk away, said, "I'm holding a dinner at my place tonight. Do you think you could spare some time to help me cook?"

Dawn and Lucas looked at each other for a moment before they said, "Of course we could!"

"Thanks, and Merry Christmas!" Mars waved them goodbye.

"And Merry Christmas to you!" Dawn waved, and Lucas did likewise.

Finally, Mars began to walk back to Kellyn and Kate, but not before wrapping her scarf a little more tightly around her neck as the night started to make the temperature a lot colder.

* * *

**Read and review! If you've read up to here, then congratulations! More to come... or you can at least favourite this story if you like it...**


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